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Period: Jan 1, 700 to
History of Computers
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Jan 1, 724
Liang Ling-Can: Liang Ling-Can invents the first fully mechanical clock
invents the first fully mechanical clock -
Jan 1, 1492
Leonardo da Vinci: Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci depict inventions such as flying machines, including a helicopter, the first mechanical calculator and one of the first programmable robots
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John Napier: John Napier invents a system of moveable rods (Napier's Rods) based on logarithms which was able to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube roots
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William Oughtred: William Oughtred develops slide rules
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Calculating Clock: Invented by Wilhelm Schickard
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Blaise Pascal: Blaise Pascal invents the the "Pascaline", a mechanical adding machine
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Gottfried Leibniz: Gottfried Leibniz is known as one of the founding fathers of calculus
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Joseph-Marie Jacquard: Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents an automatic loom controlled by punched cards
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Arithmometer: The Arithmometer was the first mass-produced calculator invented by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar
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Charles Babbage: Charles Babbage designs his first mechanical computer
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Analytical Engine: The Analytical Engine was invented by Charles Babbage
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Morse code: Samuel Morse invents Morse code
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Boolean algebra: Boolean algebra is invented by George Boole
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Tabulating Machine: Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard invent the Tabulating Machine
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William Stanley Jevons: William Stanley Jevons designs a practical logic machine
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Ramon Verea: Ramon Verea invents a fast calculator with an internal multiplication table
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Alexander Graham Bell: Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone called the Photophone
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Comptometer: The Comptometer is an invention of Dorr E. Felt which is operated by pressing keys
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Herman Hollerith: Herman Hollerith invents a counting machine which increment mechanical counters
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Guglielmo Marconi: Radio signals were invented by Guglielmo Marconi
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Tabulating Machine Company: Herman Hollerith forms the Tabulating Machine Company which later becomes IBM
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Nikola Tesla: Remote control was invented by Nikola Tesla
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Lee De Forest: Lee De Forest invents the electronic tube
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IBM: IBM is formed on June 15, 1911
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Philo Farnsworth: Television Electronic was invented by Philo Farnsworth
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John Logie Baird: Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird
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Vannevar Bush: Vannevar Bush develops a partly electronic Difference Engine
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Kurt Godel: Kurt Godel publishes a paper on the use of a universal formal language
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Alan Turing: Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine
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Konrad Zuse: Konrad Zuse creates the Z1 Computer a binary digital computer using punch tape
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George Stibitz: George Stibitz develops the Complex Number Calculator - a foundation for digital computers
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Hewlett Packard: William Hewlett and David Packard start Hewlett Packard
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John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry: John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry develop the ABC (Atanasoft-Berry Computer) prototype
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Enigma: Adolf Hitler uses the Enigma encryption machine
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Colossus: Alan Turing develops the the code-breaking machine Colossus
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Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper: Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper designed the MARK series of computers at Harvard University
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ENIAC: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
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John Logie Baird: Electro Mechanical television system was invented by John Logie Baird Walther Bothe: Walther Bothe develops the logic gate
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ENIAC: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly: John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly develop the ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
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F.C. Williams: F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to random-access memory (RAM
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F.C. Williams: F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to random-access memory (RAM
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F.C. Williams: F.C. Williams develops his cathode-ray tube (CRT) storing device the forerunner to random-access memory (RAM
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Douglas Engelbart: Douglas Engelbart theorises on interactive computing with keyboard and screen display instead of on punchcards
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Andrew Donald Booth: Andrew Donald Booth invents magnetic drum memory
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Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn: Frederic Calland Williams & Tom Kilburn develop the SSEM "Small Scale Experimental Machine" digital CRT storage which was soon nicknamed the "Baby"
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Claude Shannon: Claude Shannon builds the first machine that plays chess
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Howard Aiken: Howard Aiken develops the Harvard-MARK III
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Hideo Yamachito: The first electronic computer is created in Japan by Hideo Yamachito.
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Alan Turing: Alan Turing publishes his paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence which helps create the Turing Test.
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LEO: T. Raymond Thompson and John Simmons develop the first business computer, the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) at Lyons Co.
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LEO: T. Raymond Thompson and John Simmons develop the first business computer, the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) at Lyons Co.
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EDVAC: The EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) begins performing basic tasks. Unlike the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal
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The IBM 701 becomes available and a total of 19 are sold to the scientific community
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John Backus & IBM: John Backus & IBM develop the FORTRAN Computer Programming Language
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Bell Labs introduces its first transistor computer
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Optical fiber was invented by Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss
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Sputnik I and Sputnik II: Sputnik I and Sputnik II are launched by the Russians
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ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA is formed
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Silicon chip: The first integrated circuit, or silicon chip, is produced by the US Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce
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Paul Baran: Paul Baran theorises on the "survivability of communication systems under nuclear attack", digital technology and symbiosis between humans and machines
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COBOL: The Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) programming language is invented.
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Unimate: General Motors puts the first industrial robot, Unimate, to work in a New Jersey factory.
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The first computer game: The first computer game Spacewar Computer Game invented BY Steve Russell & MIT
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The Computer Mouse: Douglas Engelbart invents and patents the first computer mouse (nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end)
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The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is developed to standardize data exchange among computers.
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Word processor: IBM introduces the first word processor
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BASIC: John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz develop Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Language (BASIC)
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Hypertext: Andries van Dam and Ted Nelson coin the term "hypertext"
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Floppy Disk: IBM creates the first floppy disk
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Seymour Cray: Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer
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Seymour Cray: Seymour Cray develops the CDC 7600, the first supercomputer
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ARPANET: The U.S. Department of Defense sets up the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET ) this network was the first building blocks to what the internet is today but originally with the intention of creating a computer network that could
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RAM: Intel introduces the world's first available dynamic RAM ( random-access memory) chip and the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
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E-mail: E-mail was invented by Ray Tomlinson
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Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ): Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD ) was invented by James Fergason
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Pocket calculator: Pocket calculator was invented by Sharp Corporation
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Floppy Disk: Floppy Disk was invented by David Noble with IBM - Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
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First Video Game: Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video game
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First Video Game: Atari releases Pong, the first commercial video gameThe CD: The compact disc is invented in the United States
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Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs: Robert Metcalfe creates the Ethernet, a local-area network (LAN) protocol
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Personal computer: The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers
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Gateways: Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn develop gateway routing computers to negotiate between the various national networks
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SQL: IBM develops SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language ) now known as SQL
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Microsoft Corporation: The Microsoft Corporation was founded April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
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WYSIWYG: Charles Simonyi coins the term WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) to describe the ability of being able to display a file or document exactly how it is going to be printed or viewed
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Portable computers: Altair produces the first portable computer
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Apple: Apple Computers was founded Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs
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Apple Computer’s Apple II, the first personal computer with color graphics, is demonstrated
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MODEM: Ward Christensen writes the programme "MODEM" allowing two microcomputers to exchange files with each other over a phone line
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Magnetic tape: The first magnetic tape is developed in the US
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Over half a million computers are in use in the United States.
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Paul Allen and Bill Gates: IBM hires Paul Allen and Bill Gates to create an operating system for a new PC. They buy the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template to develop DOS.
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Microsoft: MS-DOS Computer Operating System increases its success
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WordPerfect: WordPerfect Corporation introduces WordPerfect 1.0 a word processing program
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Commodore 64: The Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer of all time.
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SMTP: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is introduced
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More than 10 million computers are in use in the United States
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Domain Name System (DNS): Domain Name System (DNS) pioneered by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris and Craig Partridge. Seven 'top-level' domain names are initially introduced: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and int.
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Domain Name System (DNS): Domain Name System (DNS) pioneered by Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris and Craig Partridge. Seven 'top-level' domain names are initially introduced: edu, com, gov, mil, net, org and int.
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Apple Macintosh: Apple introduces the Macintosh with mouse and window interface
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Cyberspace: William Gibson coins the word cyberspace when he publishes Neuromancer
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Paul Brainard: Paul Brainard introduces Pagemaker for the Macintosh creating the desktop publishing field
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Nintendo: The Nintendo Entertainment System makes its debut.
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More than 30 million computers are in use in the United States.
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Microsoft introduces Microsoft Works
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Perl: Larry Wall introduces Perl 1.0
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Over 45 million PCs are in use in the United States.
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The Internet, World Wide Web & Tim Berners-Lee: Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau propose a 'hypertext' system starting the modern Internet
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Microsoft and IBM stop working together to develop operating systems
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The World Wide Web: The World Wide Web is launched to the public on August 6, 1991
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At the beginning of the year only 50 World Wide Web servers are known to exist
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The World Wide Web Consortium is founded by Tim Berners-Lee to help with the development of common protocols for the evolution of the World Wide Web
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YAHOO: YAHOO is created in April, 1994.
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Java: Java is introduced
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Amazon: Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos
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EBay: EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar
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Hotmail: Hotmail is started by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia.
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WebTV: WebTV is introduced
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Altavista introduces its free online translator Babel Fish
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Microsoft acquires Hotmail
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Google: Google is founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page on September 7, 1998
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Xbox: Bill Gates introduces the Xbox on January 7th 2001.
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PayPal is acquired by eBay
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Approximately 1 billion PCs been sold
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September 12: eBay acquires Skype
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Skype announces that it has over 100 million registered users.
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1998
